This system is specifically designed for dose-controlled and uniform deposition of dry powder aerosols on cells cultured at the air/liquid interface.
The dry powder can be applied from all commercially available inhalers or via direct dosing.

A typical powder quantity for exposure is 20 mg per experiment.

Exposure Process

Duration for a single experiment lasts approx. 20 minutes. The powder is transported via negative pressure from ­the inhaler or direct dosing device to ­4 independent sedimentation tubes. After these are filled, the 4 cell culture insert compartments are moved ­under the sedimentation tubes for exposure. The entire process is sequenced automatically by ­editing the VITROCELL® Powder Chamber Controller.

Process Steps

Step 1 - Insert loading
The exposure tray houses 4 compartments for 12-well sized cell culture inserts or optional Quartz Crystal Microbalances. The tray is shown in the loading position.Step 2 - Filling of sedimentation tubes
Filling of the sedimentation tubes is performed by a controlled air flow. Subsequent sedimentation takes place via gravity and without active flow. Filling and sedimentation times are edited in the controller unit. The tray is shown in the sedimentation position.Step 3 - Exposure to inserts
After filling and sedimentation, the tray is moved to connect the sedi­mentation tubes with the cell culture insert compartments. The desired exposure duration time is edited in the controller unit. The tray is shown in the exposure position. After exposure the tray is moved back to position 1 to access the exposed inserts.

Process Parameters

The following process parameters can be varied to optimize the results:

sedimentation tube length (10 – 30 cm)

Flow rate (L/min)

Sedimentation time (s)

Exposure time (min)

Filling time (ms)

Dose Monitoring

All 4 cell culture insert compartments can be equipped with Quartz Crystal Microbalances for evaluation and montoring of the dose.